Uplift Magazine

Back in May, I blogged about One World Action’s ‘Standing Up, Not Standing Still’ letter, which the organisation created as part of their More Women More Power campaign. Addressing the letter to the UK’s main political parties, One World Action called for women’s representation to be put back on the political agenda.

Well, it’s been a bit of a wait, but earlier this month One World Action received a response from the Government Equalities Office. Prime Minister David Cameron had transferred the letter on to the office for its specialist attention, and the response had great elements of positivity. It was encouraging to see admissions that equality is far from achieved and that more must be done to work towards it;

I also note your particular concerns regarding the under-representation of women across the UK Parliament (143 women MPs out of a total of 650 (22%)). Since the election the UK position internationally has moved from 61st to 50th out of 186 countries and placed us 10th in the EU, but we are aware that we still have a long way to go in order to make the very best use of diverse talent in political life. We also agree that increasing numbers of women in politics has a real and constructive effect on the quality of decision making. The reality is that politics needs a reasonable balance of men and women so that the decisions that are made truly represent the electorate.

Not all concerns felt answered, however. Whilst it’s great to hear that our government “are committed to making Britain a fairer society for all”, I’m sure those who had signed the original ‘Standing Up, Not Standing Still’ letter would have been welcomed some more concrete plans towards achieving equality.

So, there’s a new government in at number 10 and we’ve all been frantically playing spot the women and minorities… to little avail. The F Word has, of course, had its keen eye on developments as cabinet members were announced – read their posts here and here – but, now that the dust has settled, things are looking pretty dismal with just 4 female representatives out of 23 posts (17%) and a minute 3% minority ethnic representation (somewhat at odds with the most recent national population estimates that puts the British population at 16% non White British).

In the spirit of striving towards a political landscape that more truly represents the British population, One World Action have targeted the UK’s main political parties with a letter that calls for women’s representation to be put back on the political agenda. The letter, which is part of their More Women More Power campaign and has been backed by nearly 200 supporters, states;

The presence of women in greater numbers in public life is not only fairer and more representative, but it also ensures different perspectives, solutions and approaches and must be at the heart of political renewal in the UK.

Read the full letter here. One World Action have called for parties to respond, and will be posting up any feedback on their blog. We’re all ears!